Neither Hitler, nor Himmler, nor Goebbels, nor any of the Nazi hierarchy could have wrought what they did without millions of German non-party guards, railroad employees, informants, and clerks and bureaucrats in the industry of death. Tragically this complaisance did not happen over night, but was prepped by years of National Socialist indoctrination that systematically and incrementally whipped up centuries old anti-Semitism by blaming “the Jews” as being the “biggest players” in the world’s violence and problems.

Those who do not necessarily associate the name Gandhi with either humanitarian brotherhood or wisdom, and those who remember Mahatma’s idiotic thoughts about those facing the Holocaust ought to examine the latest Gandhi take on “the Jews” in the online edition of the Washington Post, this time from one Arun Gandhi. He is self-identified as the “President and co-founder of the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence” and “the fifth grandson of India’s legendary leader, Mohandas K. “Mahatma” Gandhi. He is president and co-founder of the M. K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, now at the University of Rochester in New York.” In the Post, he writes: The holocaust was the result of the warped mind of an individual who was able to influence his followers into doing something dreadful. But, it seems to me the Jews today not only want the Germans to feel guilty but the whole world must regret what happened to the Jews. The world did feel sorry for the episode but when an individual or a nation refuses to forgive and move on the regret turns into anger… We have created a culture of violence (Israel and the Jews are the biggest players) and that Culture of Violence is eventually going to destroy humanity… Everything in that brief excerpt alone is untrue for the following reasons: 1. The Holocaust was not just Hitler and a few SS “followers”; rather, it involved millions of followers (some of whom were active, some of whom were passive) in a systematic and near successful genocide of an entire people. Neither Hitler, nor Himmler, nor Goebbels, nor any of the Nazi hierarchy could have wrought what they did without millions of German non-party guards, railroad employees, informants, and clerks and bureaucrats in the industry of death. Tragically this complaisance did not happen over night, but was prepped by years of National Socialist indoctrination that systematically and incrementally whipped up centuries old anti-Semitism by blaming — take note here, Mr. Gandhi — “the Jews” as being the “biggest players” in the world’s violence and problems. 2. Gandhi makes an incredibly asinine suggestion when he says, “But, it seems to me the Jews today not only want the Germans to feel guilty but the whole world must regret what happened to the Jews.” Should the whole world not “regret” what happened to the Jews? Maybe sorta, kinda regret it? Are the Germans not supposed to feel guilty about the loss of six million under their auspices? And if all this should not be, as Gandhi implies, then is his assumed antithesis then correct? To illustrate, try this counterfactual: “But it seems to me the Jews today should not only not want the Germans to feel guilty, but the whole world must not regret what happened to the Jews.” 3. He proceeds to say, “The world did feel sorry for the episode but when an individual or a nation refuses to forgive and move on the regret turns into anger.” Creating an autonomous, self-sufficient nation, as well as the only liberal democracy in the Middle East, seems to qualify as both forgiving and moving on. Yet after five major wars against Israel since 1947, it is apparent that its neighbors can neither forgive its creation nor move on to accept its existence. And what exactly does “regret turns into anger” mean? Is it anger such as blowing up civilians through suicide attacks, rocketing day-care centers from ‘liberated’ Gaza — or writing puerile, half-educated homilies, like Gandhi’s, from a “nonviolence” center on an American college campus? 4. “We have created a culture of violence (Israel and the Jews are the biggest players) and that Culture of Violence is eventually going to destroy humanity.” Despite the scare capitals, I doubt whether Israel and “the Jews” are “the biggest players.” All one has to do is tally up the numbers murdered in the last decade in India, Pakistan, Rwanda, Darfur, Somalia, Nigeria, Congo, Chechnya, the Balkans, (and the list goes on), and discover that “the Jews” are pretty much bit players. If Mr. Gandhi disputes that, then let him produce evidence that shadowy “Jews” or “Israel” were, in fact, involved in the above various slaughters. If the “Culture of Violence is eventually going to destroy humanity,” then I suggest such an assumed Armageddon most likely will begin either along the India/Pakistan border where two nuclear-armed countries share an existential hatred of each other — or it will emanate from Iran, which has promised to wipe out Israel. Clearly, Mr. Gandhi could do far more for world peace by leaving the University of Rochester and proselytizing against violence in the field, perhaps either in Waziristan or Teheran. Moreover, it is worth noting, had anyone on a university campus written anything comparable about “the Arabs” and Islam, there would very likely be outrage rather than the present silence.

Jewish identity in the past has been locked into the holocaust experience — a German burden that the Jews have not been able to shed. It is a very good example of a community can overplay a historic experience to the point that it begins to repulse friends. The holocaust was the result of the warped mind of an individual who was able to influence his followers into doing something dreadful. But, it seems to me the Jews today not only want the Germans to feel guilty but the whole world must regret what happened to the Jews. The world did feel sorry for the episode but when an individual or a nation refuses to forgive and move on the regret turns into anger. The Jewish identity in the future appears bleak. Any nation that remains anchored to the past is unable to move ahead and, especially a nation that believes its survival can only be ensured by weapons and bombs. In Tel Aviv in 2004 I had the opportunity to speak to some Members of Parliament and Peace activists all of whom argued that the wall and the military build-up was necessary to protect the nation and the people. In other words, I asked, you believe that you can create a snake pit — with many deadly snakes in it — and expect to live in the pit secure and alive? What do you mean? they countered. Well, with your superior weapons and armaments and your attitude towards your neighbors would it not be right to say that you are creating a snake pit? How can anyone live peacefully in such an atmosphere? Would it not be better to befriend those who hate you? Can you not reach out and share your technological advancement with your neighbors and build a relationship? Apparently, in the modern world, so determined to live by the bomb, this is an alien concept. You don’t befriend anyone, you dominate them. We have created a culture of violence (Israel and the Jews are the biggest players) and that Culture of Violence is eventually going to destroy humanity. President and co-founder of the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence. Arun Gandhi is the fifth grandson of India’s legendary leader, Mohandas K. “Mahatma” Gandhi. He is president and co-founder of the M. K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, now at the University of Rochester in New York.